ELDER  R.  ETZENHOUSER. 


THE 


BOOK  OF  MORMON  AND  ITS 
TRANSLATOR. 


Archaeological    and    Historical 
Evidences. 


BY  ELDER  R.  ETZENHOUSER, 

Of  the    Reorganized    Church   of   Jesus   Christ 
of  Latter  Day  Saints. 


Independence,  Mo.: 
ENSIGN  PUBLISHING  HOUSE. 
1899.    - 


THE    BOOK    OF     MORMON 
TRANSLATOR. 


AND    ITS 


Is  the  Book  of  Mormon  a  valu- 
able feature  of  modern  litera 
ture,  and  what  was  the  charac- 
ter of  its  translator?  Objections 
to  the  Book  of  Mormon  have 
been  many,  and  from  every  con- 
ceivable standpoint  The  multi- 
tude of  them  alone  would  indi- 
cate that  the  claims  of  the  book 
were  not  easily  defeated,  for  one 
well  founded  objection  should 
have  been  sufficient. 

A  supposed,  vital  and  well 
founded  objection  urged,  is,  that 
the  Book  of  Mormon  is  not  need- 
ed, the  Bible  being  sufficient. 
To  the  superficial  thinker  this 
wou;d  seem  unanswerable;  but, 
is  it?  Before  a  hne  of  the  New 
Testament  was  written,  Christ 
said: 

"Search  the  scriptures;  for  in 
them  ye  think  ye  have  eternal 
life:  and  they  are  they  which  tes- 
tify of  me." 

Would  it  not  seem  from  this, 
that  the  New  Testament  was  un- 
necessary? It  could  be  urged 
from  this  declaration  of  the 
Savior,  that  the  New  Testament 
was  out  of  place,  and,  those  who 
object  to  the  Book  of  Mormon 
from  the     standpoint    that    the 


Bible  is  all  that  is  needed,  could 
as  well  assert  from  the  same 
standpoint  of  reasoning,  that  the 
New  Testament  was  not  needed. 
It  could  be  said  too,  when  Christ 
said,  ''Search  the  scriptures," 
etc.,  he  did  not  even  infer  that 
there  was  to  be  any  additional 
scripture. 

That  the  Jew  has  persistently 
objected  to  the  New  Testament 
every  one  may  know;  but  the 
New  Testament  has  not  been  in- 
validated, neither  has  its  mission 
been  thwarted  thereby.  The  ob- 
jection of  the  infidel  has  not  been 
more  successful.  Paul  wrote  to 
Timothy : 

"From  a  child  thou  hast  known 
the  holy  scriptures,  which  are 
able  to  make  thee  wise  unto  sal- 
vation through  faith  which  is  in 
Christ  Jesus."— 2  Tim.  3:  15. 

The  objector  could  well  say, 
"There  is  enough  to  make  wise 
unto  salvation  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, and  we  do  not  need  the 
New  Testament. " 

Much  of  the  New  Testament 
was  not  written  then,  and  the 
compilation  forming  it  took  place 
long  after  Timothy's  day.  Al- 
though   there    may    have    been 


THE  BOOK  OF  MORMON  AND  ITS  TRANSLATOR. 


enough  in  the  old,  we  have  the 
new,  and  it  is  rated  by  many, 
more  important  than  the  old. 

If  then,  after  there  was  suffi- 
cient to  make  wise  unto  salva- 
tion, the  New  Testament  came 
forth,  and  exists  by  right,  why 
not  other  writings  in  the  same 
line  exist  by  right,  upon  their 
merit?  If  such  reasoning  could 
not  defeat  the  New  Testament, 
neither  can  it  overthrow  the 
claim  of  the  Book  of  Mormon. 

While  the  Bible  was  sufficient 
for  the  continent  and  its  inhabi- 
tants where  it  originated,  could 
it  be  sufficient  for  the  ancient 
peoples  of  the  western  continent 
where  it  nefcer  luas^  'til  since  the 
day  of  Columbus?  Myriads  of 
people,  through  ages,  had  been 
upon  this  continent  as  the  won- 
derful ruins,  the  evidence  of 
their  well  developed  civilized  life, 
show,  and  the  finding  of  their 
bones  attest.  They  did  not 
have  the  Bible.  It  came  to  this 
continent  with  Columbus,  or  at 
a  later  time.  If  even  the  Bible 
might  be  sufficient  for  this  con- 
tinent and  its  people  siiice  the 
days  of  Columbus,  how  could  it 
have  been  for  those  who  were 
dead  and  gone  before  it  was 
brought  to  this  continent  by  Col- 
umbus, or  still  more  recently. 
Is  not  all  Christendom  exerting 
much  energy  to  get  the  Bible  to 
all  heathen  people  because  all 
mankind  shall  be  judged  by 
Bible  truth?  Since  it  is  an  ad- 
mitted fact  that  the  Bible  has 


been  accessible  to  people  on  this 
continent  since  the  days  of  Col- 
umbus only,  why  not  concede 
the  mission  of  the  Book  of  Mor- 
mon, supplying,  as  it  did,  the 
ancient  peoples  before  the  day 
of  Columbus.  According  to 
Bible  chronology,  it  was  about 
five  thousand,  five  hundred  years 
from  creation  to  America's  dis- 
covery by  Columbus.  Must  the 
western  continent  have  waited 
all  those  ages  without  the  revela- 
tion of  God's  will? 

If  the  Bible  is  all  that  God 
gave,  and  if  it  is  all  that  is  need- 
ed, why  is  the  ever  increasing 
effort  being  made  by  theologian 
and  scientist,  men  of  renown,  to 
find  additional  matter  to  that  of 
the  Bible?  Whether  the  search 
is  rewarded  by  finding  manu- 
script, tablet,  or  inscription  on 
monument  or  elsewhere,  is  it  not 
a  confession  that  other  writing 
or  record  than  that  contained  in 
the  Bible,  has  the  right  of  exist- 
ence and  consideration? 

The  diligent  searchers  in  this 
line  have  not  been  scrupulously 
particular  as  to  whether  Chal- 
dean plain,  Arabian  waste, 
Egypt's  repository,  or  that  of 
Rome,  should  yield  their  keep- 
ing and  furnish  a  supply.  The 
discoveries,  too,  have  been  many, 
as  we  shall  see. 

Papers  and  periodicals  of  May, 
1897,  credited  Prof.  Paul  Haupt 
with  having  deciphered  Assyr- 
ian tablets  in  the  British  Museum 
4,400    years     old.       Charles    H. 


THE  BOOK  OF  MORMON  AND  ITS  TRANSLATOR. 


Eaton,  D.  D.,  of  New  York,  in 
commenting  on  this  says:  "The 
excavations  in  Babylon  and  As- 
syria have  thrown  afloodof  li^ht 
on  the  beginnings  of  the  human 
race,  and  the  age  and  authentic- 
ity of  the  books  of  the  Old  Tes- 
tament. Thirty- two  thousand 
inscribed  tablets  have  been 
found  in  Nippur  alone." 

The  Cleveland,  Ohio,  Plain  Deal- 
er^ during  May,  1898,  under  the 
caption  of  "Christian  Literature 
of  the  First  Three  Centuries 
Brought  to  Light,"  mentions 
"Discovery  of  catacomb  inscrip- 
tions by  Wilpert, "  "Leblant's 
discoveries  in  Rome,  Africa  and 
Gaul,"  "Inscriptions  unearthed 
by  Huebner,"  "Antiquities  dug 
up  on  the  Dalmatian  coast," 
"Ramsay's  explorations  in  Asia 
Minor,"  "Bryennio's  discoveries 
iti  the  Jerusalem  monastery  of 
Constantinople,"  "Fiuding  of  the 
gospel  of  Peter  by  the  French 
arch88ological  mission,"  "Recov- 
ery of  Tatian's  Diatessaron  or 
Harmony  of  the  Four  Gospels," 
"Prof.  Harris'  discovery  on 
Mount  Sinai,"  "Papyrus  dug  up 
at  Benesha. " 

The  Plain  Dealer  makes  this 
passing  comment:  "This  is  pre- 
eminently the  day  of  the  archae- 
ologist." Then,  speaking  of  the 
gospel  by  Peter  says:  "The 
gospel  of  Peter  was  published  in 
1892,  under  the  care  of  Mr.  Bour- 
iant  in  the  memoirs  of  the  French 
Archaeological  mission  at  Cairo. 
*  *  *  Harnack  assigns  the  gos- 


pel to  the  first  quarter  of  the 
second  century.  Previous  to 
this  discovery,  all  that  had  been 
known  of  this  gospel  was  allu- 
sions by  Serapis,  Bishop  of  An- 
tioch,  Origen,  Eusebius  and 
Theodoret." 

CoQtinuing,  the  Plain  Dealer 
says: 

"In  this  year  of  our  Lord,  re- 
markable discoveries  on  the  Nile 
are  astonishing  the  Christian 
world.  The  finding  of  the  "Logia" 
or  "Sayings  of  Jesus,"  is  fresh 
in  our  minds,  while  the  news 
comes  that  from  the  same  great 
collection  of  papyrus  rolls  dug 
up  at  Benesha,  a  page  of  the  gos- 
pel of  Matthew  has  come  to 
light.  At  this  very  hour  com- 
petent scholars  are  patiently  de- 
ciphering these  wonderful  doc- 
uments." 

Of  the  "Logia"  or  "Sayings  of 
Jesus"  above  referred  to,  the 
Cleveland,  Ohio,  Press,  of  July 
5,  1897,  says: 

"As  a  result  of  the  co  opera- 
tions of  Grendell  and  Hunt,  in 
Egypt,  a  Greek  manuscript  writ- 
ten 100  A.  D.,  giving  detached 
sayings  of  Christ,  has  been 
found.  It  has  every  appearance 
of  being  genuine,  and  contains 
very  interesting  matter  not  in 
the  New  Testament.  It  will 
shortly  be  published  and  put  on 
the  market  in  a  cheap  edition. " 

AN  OLD  MANUSCRIPT  UNEARTHED 
IN  THE  RUINS  OF  LECHISCH. 

Berlin,  August  4,  1898.— For 
several  years  a  German  preach- 


THE  BOOK  OF  MORMON  AND  ITS  TRANSLATOR. 


er  from  the  town  of  Walbroel, 
has  been  at  work  personally,  and 
through  native  agents,  in  col- 
lecting ancient  manuscripts  and 
coins  from  the  excavations  in 
Palestine.  The  preacher's  name 
is  Brusselbach,  and  he  has  just 
published  a  little  monograph 
giving  the  result  of  his  labors. 
The  publication  has  attracted 
wide  attention  among  archaeolog- 
ical and  scientific  men,  for  the 
reason  that  the  discoveries 
which  Brusselbach  claims  to 
have  made,  and  which  seem  to 
be  authenticated  by  the  facts, 
are  the  most  important  made  in 
many  years.  The  finds  possess 
other  than  scholarly  interest,  as 
they  nearly  all  relate  to  Bible 
history. 

The  most  important  of  the  dis- 
coveries related  by  Brusselbach 
is  that  of  a  manuscript  suppos- 
edly written  by  Moses  himself. 
The  margin  bears  the  name  of 
Moses,  and  the  writing  relates 
to  the  subjects  treated  in  the 
early  books  of  the  Bible  which 
have  come  down  to  us  as  the 
books  of  Moses.  If  the  explorer 
can  prove  the  accuracy  of  his  be- 
lief in  the  august  authorship  of 
the  manuscript  which  he  has  un- 
earthed, it  will  be  studied  with 
interest,  as  one  of  the  oldest,  and 
probably  the  most  valuable,  speci- 
men of  early  writing  in  exist- 
ence. *  *  * 

"While  the  pictures  are  inter- 
esting, the  most  important  part 
of  the  papyrus  is  the  inscription 


across  the  top.  It  is  written  in 
ancient  script,  hitherto  unknown, 
but  so  primitive  as  to  approach 
very  closely  the  hieroglyphic 
stage.  It  is  translated  by  the 
discoverer,  'Their  yearning  for 
freedom  from  the  oppressioQ  is 
full;  their  loag  continued  sins 
cry  unto  thee,  O  God." — Cleve- 
land, Ohio,  Leader^  August  14, 
1898. 

Later  the  renowned  Brussel- 
bach is  reported  to  have  found  in 
the  handwriting  of  the  Savior  a 
prayer  of  his,  supposed  to  have 
been  found  shortly  after  the  ser- 
mon on  the  mount. 

Whatever  the  merit,  or  lack  of 
merit,  of  any  or  all  these  ancient 
relics,  the  world  is  committed, 
through  its  eminent  men  and 
their  work  in  this  direction,  to 
the  fact  that  additional  and  val- 
uable matter,  in  addition  to  the 
Bible,  is  sought  for,  and  being 
found.  The  citation  of  such 
relics  being  found  serves  faith- 
fully the  purpose  had  by  the 
writer  on  the  Book  of  Mormon 
question.  A  very  few  of  the 
vast  number  discovered  have 
been  given. 

If  the  Bible  is  all,  and  all  sufii- 
cient,  why  all  the  commotion 
about  these  discoveries? 

A  CONSTANT    SEARCH   FOR  STILL 
MORE,   CONTINUES. 

Again,  if  almost  anywhere  on 
the  old  continent,  important  doc- 
uments of  value  are  found,  why 
not  such  a  thing  be  possible  on 
this  continent?     Did  God  leave 


THE  BOOK  OF  MORMON  AND  ITS  TRANSLATOR. 


this  continent  out  of  his  program 
after  creating  and  peopling  it? 

In  the  face  of  the  claim  that 
the  Bible  is  all,  and  all  sufficient, 
the  entire  continent,  so  to  speak, 
where  it  originated,  is  ransacked 
for  more;  and  yet  the  Book  of 
Mormon  story  of  this  continent 
is  denied,  and  as  no  compet- 
ing rival  has  been  claimed  to 
exist,  why  not  let  the  Book  of 
Mormon  story  stand  until  it  is 
proven  untrue,  or  something 
better  is  shown  to  take  its  place. 
The  theory  that  the  Bible  is  all 
God  gave  to  man  of  the  revela- 
tion of  his  will,  and  the  indisput- 
able fact  chat  the  Bible  was  not 
on  this  continent  'til  since  the 
day  of  Columbus,  would  make 
God  a  respecter  of  persons  on  a 
gigantic  scale;  while,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  Bible  declares 
God  was  mindful  of  all  nations,  in 
all  times  and  places.  Luke  de- 
clares of  him  in  Acts  17:  26,  27: 
}  "And  hath  made  of  one  blood 
all  nations  of  men  for  to  dwell  on 
all  the  face  of  the  earth,  and  hath 
determined  the  times  before  ap- 
pointed, and  the  bounds  of  their 
habitation;  that  they  should  seek 
the  Lord,  if  haply  they  might  feel 
after  him,  and  find  him,  though 
he  be  not  far  from  every  one  of 
us.'^ 

Notice  the  following  points  in 
this  statement  of  Luke: 

First,  All  nations  are  of  one 
blood,  and  are  to  dwell  on  "aZZ 
the  face  of  the  earth. " 

Second,  "And  hath  determined 


the  times  before  appointed'''  and 
the  ^^bounds  of  their  habitation.'' 

Third,  "That  they  should  seek 
the  Lord." 

According:  to  this,  which  reflects 
justice,  the  people  of  the  western 
continent  had  as  good  claim  on 
the  Almighty  as  did  those  of  the 
eastern  continent.  They  also 
could  seek  the  Lord.  The  Book 
of  Mormon  is  the  result  of  the 
relationship  so  secured  between 
God  and  man  on  this  continent. 

Philosophically  then,  as  well 
as  scripturally,  the  claim  of  the 
Book  of  Mormon  is  a  proper  one. 
Its  defeat  could  only  be  brought 
about  by  something  filling  its 
mission  better.  Since  neither 
the  Bible  nor  its  supporters 
claim  it  filled  a  mission  on  this 
continent  before  the  days  of  Co- 
lumbus, the  Book  of  Mormon  is 
before  us  with  a  just  claim,  and 
without  a  rival. 

The  Book  of  Mormon's  state- 
ment of  its  mission  in  coming  to 
light,  in  modern  times,  is,  "The 
convincing  of  the  Jew  and  gen- 
tile that  Jesus  is  the  Christ. " 

Why  not  let  it  have  a  trial  in 
this?  It  is  not  yet  an  hundred 
years  old,  being  published  in 
1830,  while  the  New  Testament 
is  many  centuries  old,  and  yet 
has  much  to  do  in  convincing 
men  that  Jesus  is  the  Christ. 

The  Book  of  Mormon  presents 
God's  saving  plan,  the  gospel, 
through  Christ,  just  as  he  taught 
it.  Its  mission  and  message, 
then,  is  a  proper  one.      In  past 


6         THE  BOOK  OF  MORMON  AND  ITS  TRANSLATOR. 


ages  it  had  a  field  all  its  own  on 
this  continent.  Now  it  is  an  ad- 
ditional witness  for  God,  Christ 
and  the  gospel.  If  to  the  Bible 
there  may  be  additional  evidence 
in  the  many  discoveries  on  the 
other  continent,  why  not  this  be 
true  of  the  Book  of  Mormon  in 
relation  to  this  continent,  and 
the  relation  sustained  between 
God  and  man  through  God's 
plan  of  saving  truth  contained 
in  it?  It  is  strange,  yet  true, 
that  in  the  sixty-eight  years  the 
Book  of  Mormon  has  been  be- 
fore the  public,  none  have  shown 
it  to  be  at  variance  with  the 
Bible  on  the  gospel.  Its  morals, 
too,  have  been  commended  by 
some  of  its  rankest  opposers. 
Its  emphatic  condemnation  of 
polygamy  may  be  seen  in  large 
type  edition  page  102:  26,  29; 
smaU  type  edition  page  116. 

As  there  are  no  objections  ex- 
isting to  the  teaching  of  the 
book,  we  pass  to  examine  some 
leading  objections  on  other  lines, 
leaving  the  reader  to  examine 
the  book;  to  read  its  historic 
story  and  pure  message  of  sav- 
ing truth. 

Second,  to  the  thought  that  it 
was  an  innovation  upon  the  Bible 
— which  we  have  shown  to  be  a 
fallacy — was  the  objection  that  it 
was  claimed  to  have  been  trans- 
lated from  metallic  plates,  na- 
tions generally  having  used 
other  material  upon  which  to  re- 
cord their  history  and  important 
matters.       The  claim   of  plates 


anciently  inscribed,  and  found 
by  Joseph  Smith,  was,  therefore*, 
said  to  be  false,  although  the 
eleven  witnesses,  whose  names 
appear  in  the  Book  of  Mormon, 
testified  all  their  lives,  that  they 
saw  the  plates. 

Who  is  prepared  to  testify  that 
they  did  not  see  themY 

In  the  Quincy  (Illinois)  Whig 
appeared  an  article  describing 
plates  found  April  23,  1843: 

"A  Mr.  J.  Roberts  from  Pike 
county,  called  upon  us  last  Mon- 
day with  a  written  description 
of  a  discovery  which  was  recent- 
ly made  near  Kinderhook  in  that 
county.  *  *  *  It  appeared  that 
a  young  man  by  the  name  of 
Wiley,  a  resident  of  Kinderhook, 
commenced  digging  into  amound ; 
finding  it  quite  laborious,  he  in- 
vited others  to  assist  him;  final- 
ly a  company  of  ten  or  twelve 
repaired  to  the  mound  and  as- 
sisted. *  *  *  After  penetrating 
the  mound  about  eleven  feet  they 
came  to  a  bed  of  limestone  that 
had  been  apparently  subjected 
to  the  fire.  They  removed  the 
stones  *  *  *  to  the  depth  of  two 
feet,  *  *  *  when  they  found  six 
brass  plates  secured  or  fastened 
together  by  two  iron  wires,  but 
which  were  so  decayed  that  they 
readily  crumbled  to  dust  upon 
being  handled.  The  plates  were 
so  completely  covered  with  dust 
as  almost  to  obliterate  the  char- 
acters inscribed  upon  them,  but 
after  undergoing  a  chemical 
process,     the    inscriptions  were 


THE  BOOK  OF  MORMON  AND  ITS  TRANSLATOR. 


■° 


rought  out  plain  and  distinct. 
There  were  six  plates  four  inches 
length,  ]  finches  wide  at  the 
top,  and  2f  wide  at  the  bottom, 
flaring  at  the  points.  There  are 
four  lines  of  characters  or  hiero- 
glyphics on  each.  *  *  *  In  the 
place  where  the  plates  were  de- 
posited, were  also  found  human 
bones,  in  the  last  stage  of  decora- 


position 


.  *  *  * 


it  is  believed  that 


it  was  but  the  burial  place  of  a 
small  number,  perhaps  a  person 
or  a  family  of  distinction,  in  ages 
long  gone  by,  *  *  *  of  a  people 
that  existed  far,  far  beyond  the 
memory  or  the  present  race. 
*  *  *  The  plates    above  alluded 

were  exhibited  in  this  city  last 
eek." 

Wiley  and  eight  others  testify, 
in  the  Times  and  Seasons,  to  the 
finding  of  these  plates,  as  fol- 
lows: "We,  the  citizens  of  Kin- 
derhook,  whose  names  are  an- 
nexed, do  certify  and  declare 
that  on  the  23d  of  April,  1843, 
-while  excavating  a  large  mound 
in  this  vicinity,  Mr.  Wiley  took 
from  said  mound  six  brass  plates 
of  a  bell  shape,  covered  with  an- 
cient characters.  Said  plates 
were  very  much  oxidated.  The 
bands  and  rings  on  said  plates 
mouldered  into  dust  on  a  slight 
pressure.  R.  Wiley,  George 
Deckenson,  W.  Longnecker,  G. 
W.  F.  Ward,  J.  R.  Sharp,  Ira  S. 
Curtis,  Fayette  Grubb,  W.  P. 
Harris,  W.  Fugate. " 

Various  other  instances  of  in- 
scribed metallic  articles,  besides 


these  Kinder  hook  plates,  could 
be  furnished,  but  we  add  only 
one  additional.  That  of  Rev. 
Stephen  D.  Peet,  and  of  which 
he  gave  a  facsimile  in  his  Anti- 
quarian Journal. 

In  the  St.  Louis  Chronicle  in 
February,  1889,  appeared  the 
following:  "Rev.  S.  D.  Peet,  the 
well  known  antiquarian,  is  re- 
ported as  having  found  in  Illi- 
nois, two  cross  plates  which  have 
all  the  appearance  of  being  rude 
musical  instruments.  These 
plates  are  about  fifteen  inches 
square  and  there  are  places  for 
strings  and  a  bridge.  Along  the 
lower  edge  is  a  row  of  hiero- 
glyphics SIMILAR  to  those  on  the 
famous  Palmyra  plates,  said  to 
have  been  discovered  by  Joseph 
Smith  and  from  which  he  inter- 
preted the  Book  of  Mormon.*' 

We  have  thus  produced  evi- 
dence that  others  besides  Jo- 
seph Smith  have  found  anciently 
inscribed  plates;  who  can  pro- 
duce the  evidence  that  he  did 
not  find  such  plates  and  translate 
them? 

The  claim  of  the  Book  of  Mor- 
mon that  the  rude,  barbarous 
Indian  had  been  preceded  by 
two  different  civilizations,  was 
declared  to  be  so  clearly  a  myth, 
that  it  need  not  even  be  consid- 
ered. But  nine  years  after  the 
Book  of  Mormon  appeared,  the 
United  States  government  sent 
out  Catherwood  and  Stephens 
who  discovered  forty-four  cities 
in  Central  America,  just  where 


8         THE  BOOK  OF  MORMON  AND  ITS  TRANSLATOR. 


the  Book  of  Mormon  described 
cities  were  most  numerous,  and 
civilization  to  have  reached  its 
best  expression. 

The  Book  of  Mormon  claim  for 
two  civilizations  is  now  support- 
ed by  the  distinguished  archaeo- 
logical writers,  Short,  Pidgeon, 
Bancroft  and  Baldwin. 

"The  NeoHthic  and  Bronze 
ages  preceded  the  Paleolithic, 
at  least  in  the  Mississippi  basin, 
not  that  the  last  inhabitants  de- 
teriorated and  lost  the  high  arts 
which  are  well  known  to  have 
been  cultivated  upon  the  same 
soil  by  them,  but  that  they  were 
preceded  by  a  race  possessed  of 
no  inferior  civihzation,  who  were 
not  their  ancestors,  but  a  dis- 
tinct people  with  a  capacity  for 
progress,  for  the  exercise  of 
government,  for  the  erection  of 
magnificent  architectural  monu- 
ments, and  possessed  of  a  re- 
spectable knowledge  of  geomet- 
rical principles." — North  Ameri- 
cans of  Antiquity  (Short),  p.  27. 

Rdgeon  says:  "From  these 
facts  in  connection  with  the  tra- 
ditions of  De  Coo  Dah,  respect- 
ing the  ancient  inhabitants  of 
these  regions,  as  of  various  lan- 
guages, customs  and  color,  we 
are  led  to  the  conclusion  that  at 

least     TWO      DISTINCT     RACES     of 

men  have  occupied  this  territory 
at  different  eras,  and  that  both 
became  nationally  extinct  anter- 
ior to  the  occupation  of  the  pres- 
ent Indian  race." — Traditions  of 
De  Coo  Dah,  pp.  176,  7. 


Bancroft  says:  "The  resem- 
blance in  the  different  groups  of 
ruins  in  Chiapas,  Yucatan  and 
Honduras,  are  more  than  suffi- 
cient to  prove  intimate  connec- 
tion between  the  builders  and 
artists.  The  differences  pointed 
out  prove  just  as  conclusively 
that  the  edifices  were  not  all 
erecte(J  and  dedicated  by  the 
same  people,  under  the  same 
laws  and  religious  control,  at  the 
same  epoch." — Native  Races 
Pacific  States,  Vol.  4,  p.  359. 

"It  is  a  point:  of  no  little  inter- 
est that  these  old  constructions 
belong  to  different  periods  in  the 
past,  and  represent  somewhat 
different  phases  of  civilization." 
*  *  *  "The  attention  of  investi- 
gators has  lingered  in  specula- 
tion. They  find  in  them  a  sig- 
nificance which  is  stated  as  fol- 
lows by  Brasseur  deBourbourg: 
'Among  the  edifices  forgotten  by 
time  ia  the  forests  of  Mexico  and 
Central  America,  we  find  archi- 
tectural characteristics  so  dif- 
ferent from  each  other,  that  it 
is  impossible  to  attribute  them 
to  the  SAME  PEOPLE  as  to  believe 
they  were  all  built  at  the  same 
epoch.'" — Baldwin's  Ancient 
America,  pp.  155,  156. 

In  this  &ne/ treatise  answering 
the  principal  objections  to  the 
Book  of  Mormon,  we  select,  from 
the  vast  array  of  splendid  evi- 
dences as  to  past  civilization  on 
this  continent,  one  or  two  terse 
statements  to  represent  the 
whole. 


r 


THE  BOOK  OF  MORMON  AND  ITS  TRANSLATOR. 


9 


Pidgeon  says: 

''It  cannot  any  longer  be  de- 
nied that  there  has  been  a  day 
when  this  continent  swarmed 
with  millions  of  inhabitants,  when 
the  arts  and  sciences  flourished. " 
— Antiquarian  Researches  p.  5. 

Professor  McGee,  acting  presi- 
dent of  the  American  Association 
of  Sciences,  for  the  advancement 
of  science,  during  the  conven- 
tion in  Detroit,  Michigan,  August, 
1897,  stated,  before  a  joint  ses- 
sion of  archaBologists  and  geolo- 
gists upon  a  case  of  trepanning 
of  ancient  times  in  Mexico,  on 
which  a  paper  had  been  pre- 
sented by  Dr.  Hirdlichka: 

"I  have  examined  twenty-four 
cases  of  trepanning  on  nineteen 
skulls,  out  of  a  collection  of  one 
thousand.  Trepanning,  the  most 
daring  and  difficult  modern  sur- 
gical operation,  was  performed 
more  plentifully  in  Peru,  in  an- 
cient days,  than  in  military  hos- 
pitals of  the  present." 

The  professor  believed  this  to 
have  been  done  with  stone  in- 
struments and  before  the  day  of 
metal  instruments.  But  it  is 
more  rational  to  believe  that  the 
skill  which  could  discover  and 
develop  trepanning,  could  also 
discover  and  make  from  metal, 
the  instruments  with  which  it 
was  performed. 

The  civilizations  as  claimed  in 
the  Book  of  Mormon,  are  thus 
attested  by  the  discoveries  since 
its  origin. 

The  sure  defeat  of  the  Book  of 


Mormon  story,  by  its  setting 
forth  that  the  horse  and  ele- 
phant were  had  and  used  by 
ancient  people  of  this  continent, 
was  supposed  to  be  secured  in 
the  assertion  that  the  Spaniard 
had  introduced  the  horse  on  this 
continent,  and  that  the  elephant 
was  brought  here  since  the  ex- 
istence of  the  modern  circus,  and 
for  that  purpose.  Both  of  these 
animals  were  denied  being  here 
anciently,  and  the  Book  of  Mor- 
mon statement  ridiculed. 

Evidence  as  to  the  existence 
of  horse,  elephant  and  other 
domestic  animals,  anciently,  on 
this  continent,  is  now  abundant. 

"In  North  America  *  *  'f  in 
the  Champlain  period,  there  were 
great  elephants,  and  mastodons, 
oxen,  horses,  stags,  beaver  and 
some  edentates  in  quaternary 
North  America  unsurpassed  by 
any  in  the  world." — Text  Book 
of  Geology,  J.  D.  Dana,  L.  L.  D., 
p.  325. 

Prof.  A.  Winchell  credits 
America  with  "twenty-one 
species  of  horselike  animals." — 
Evolution  p.  82. 

"Dr.  Leidy  has  reported 
twenty- seven  species  of  the  horse 
family  which  are  known  to  have 
lived  on  this  continent." — F.  V. 
Hayden's  Great  West,  p.  44. 

Of  many  other  citations  of  evi- 
dence at  hand  as  to  the  horse  and 
elephant,  also  mastodon  on  this 
continent  anciently,  one  signifi- 
cantly forceful  in  support  of  the 
Book  of  Mormon  claim,  that  not 


10       THE  BOOK  OF  MORMON  AND  ITS  TRANSLATOR. 


only  the  elephant,  but  two  larger 
animals  were  used  for  domestic 
purposes,  follows: 

"My  theory  that  the  prehis- 
toric races  used,  to  some  extent, 
the  great  American  elephant,  or 
mastodon,  I  believe  is  new,  and 
no  doubt  will  be  considered 
visionary  by  many  readers,  and 
more  especially  by  prominent 
ar chsBologis ts.  Finding  the  for  m 
of  an  elephant  engraved  upon  a 
copper  relic  some  six  inches 
long  and  four  wide,  in  a  mound 
on  the  Red  House  Creek,  in  the 
year  1854,  and  represented  in 
harness  with  a  sort  of  breast 
collar  with  tugs  reaching  past 
the  hips,  first  led  me  to  adopt 
the  theory.  That  the  great  beast 
was  contemporary  with  the 
mound  builders,  is  conceded  by 
all,  and  also  that  his  bones  and 
those  of  his  master  are  crumb- 
ling together  in  the  ground." — 
Ancient  Man  in  America,  by 
Frederick  Larkin,  M.  D.,  p.  19. 

A  complete  skeleton  of  the 
mastodon  thirteen  feet  in  height 
may  be  seen  in  the  museum  in 
Lincoln  Park,  Chicago. 

As  late  as  1865,  as  will  be  seen 
by  the  following,  the  Spaniard 
was  supposed  to  have  introduced 
the  horse  here:  but,  thirty-five 
years  before,  the  Book  of  Mor- 
mon said  he  had  been  here  in 
ancient  times. 

Prof.  O.  C.  Marsh,  in  an  ad- 
dress before  the  American  As- 
sociation for  the  Advancement  of 
Science,    Nashville,    Tennessee, 


August  30,  1877,  page  30: 
"When  a  student  in  Germany, 
some  twelve  years  ago,  I  heard  a 
world-renowned  professor  of 
zoology  gravely  inform  his  pupils 
that  the  horse  was  a  gift  of  the 
old  world  to  the  new,  and  was 
entirely  unknown  in  America 
until  introduced  by  the  Span- 
iards. After  the  lecture  I  asked 
him  whether  no  earlier  remains 
of  horses  had  been  found  on  this 
continent,  and  was  told  in  reply 
that  the  reports  to  that  effect 
were  too  unsatisfactory  to  be 
presented  as  facts  in  science. 
This  remark  led  me,  on  my  re- 
turn, to  examine  the  subject  my- 
self, and  I  have  since  unearthed 
with  my  own  hands,  not  less  than 
thirty  distinct  species  of  the 
horse  tribe  in  the  tertiary  de- 
posits of  the  west  alone. " 

Joseph  Smith  then,  according 
to  the  theory  that  he  formulated 
the  Book  of  Mormon,  opposed 
the  theories  of  his  time;  a  thing 
quite  improbable.  The  book  is 
sustained,  step  by  step,  by  the 
facts  of  scientific  discovery. 

Again,  the  Book  of  Mormon 
was  jeered  at  for  its  statement 
that  the  Jaredite  colony  had 
brought  animals  and  plants  from 
Asia  in  vessels.  But  in  support 
of  this  fact,  Prof.  Winchell's 
statement  in  his  "Sketches  of 
Creation, "  published  1873,  is  sig- 
nificant, stating,  as  he  does,  that 
the  flora  and  fauna  of  Central 
America  came  originally  from 
Asia. 


THE  BOOK  OF  MORMON  AND  ITS  TRANSLATOR.        11 


No  one  feature  of  the  Book  of 
Mormon,  perhaps,  furnished  so 
much  for  the  stock  of  ridicule  in- 
dul^red  in  against  it,  as  the  boats 
it  speaks  of  in  Jaredite  times, 
with  holes  in  top  and  bottom, 
and  capable  in  some  degree  of 
submarine  passage.  At  our  life 
preserving  stations,  boats  may 
be  seen  with  holes  in  the  bottom 
as  well  as  in  the  top.  Subma- 
rine boats  also  now  exist.  John 
P.  Holland,  of  Baltimore,  pro- 
ceeded to  Washington  to  have  his 
submarine  boat  put  into  service 
in  the  destruction  of  Cervera's 
fleet  in  1898. 

The  Hanover,  Pennsylvania, 
Record^  of  January  7,  1898,  con- 
tained this: 

"The  argonaut's  crew  spent 
four  hours  under  water  in  the 
boat  at  the  Baltimore  test." 
The  Holland  boat  was  tested  by 
government  board  at  New  York, 
the  12th  of  November  1898.  Re- 
sult to  be  passed  upon  by  navy 
department. 

The  Buffalo  (New  York)  Courier 
of  June  30,  1898,  contained  this: 

"Milwaukee,  Wisconsin.  The 
Raddatz  submarine  boat  was 
given  a  successful  test  of  one 
and  one-fourth  hours  under 
water  this  afternoon.  The  boat 
moved  through  the  water  at  the 
rate  of  eight  knots  an  hour. " 

Such  a  thing  as  a  submarine 
boat  was  hardly  thought  of  in 
1830,  when  the  Book  of  Mormon 
was  pubUshed.  On  this  impor- 
tant point  it  was  ahead  of  scien- 


tific naval  construction  many 
years.  That  God  instructed 
Noah  to  build  an  ark,  long  since 
passed  as  a  fact  with  Bible  be- 
lievers. Why  not  God  have  also 
directed  the  construction  of 
Jaredite  barges  that  could  per- 
form submarine  service.  The 
Book  of  Mormon  said  he  did,  who 
can  prove  he  did  not? 

The  Book  of  Mormon  tells  of 
marauding  robber  tribes  who 
had  their  abodes  in  the  fast- 
nesses of  mountain  cliffs  through- 
out the  continent.  It  is  a  sig- 
nificant fact  that  forty-four  years 
after  the  Book  of  Mormon  was 
before  the  public,  Colonel  Gun- 
nison discovered,  in  1874,  cliff 
dwellings  m  the  canyons  of  the 
little  Colorado  and  the  Rio  Grande. 
These  were  exhibited  by  fac- 
simile in  1876,  at  the  Centennial. 

The  cliff  dwellers'  mode  of  life 
being  so  clearly  described  in  the 
Book  of  Mormon,  and  then  cor- 
roborated by  later  discoveries  is 
another  striking  fact  in  its  favor, 
cliff  dwellers'  habitations  were 
reproduced  at  the  World's  Fair. 

Another  peculiar  claim  in  the 
Book  of  Mormon  has  been  won- 
derfully authenticated.  It  sets 
forth  that  there  was,  hundreds 
of  years  ago,  a  tremendous  con- 
volution of  nature,  a  continental 
cataclysm:  upheavols  of  some 
parts,  the  sinking  of  others,  or, 
in  its  own  words,  "for  behold  the 
whole  face  of  the  land  was 
changed."  This  is  corroborated 
by  John  T.  Short  in  his  "Ameri- 


12       THE  BOOK  OF  MORMON  AND  ITS  TRANSLATOR. 


can  Antiquities,"  published  in 
1880,  page  233,  speaking  of  cer- 
tain people: 

"A  great  convulsion  of  nature 
which  shook  the  earth,  and 
caused  the  mountains  and  vol- 
canoes to  swallow  up  and  kill 
them." 

Baldwin  in  his  "Ancient 
America,"  published  in  1871, 
says  of  Central  America,  on 
pEige  176. 

"The  land  was  shaken  by- 
frightful  earthquakes,  and  the 
waves  of  the  sea  combined  with 
volcanic  fire  to  overwhelm  and 
engulf  it." 

Short  tells,  on  page  125,  of  a 
human  skull  and  mastodon  bones 
at  a  depth  of  one  hundred  and 
eighty  feet,  in  a  mining  shaft  at 
Table  mountain,  California. 

Dr.  D.  L.  Yates  presented  be- 
fore the  Historical  Society  of 
San  Francisco,  in  March  1888,  a 
paper  which  appeared  in  the 
"Bulletin"  and  stated  among 
other  matters:  "Fossil  remains 
of  the  rhinoceros  and  an  extinct 
horse,  are  found  under  the  lava 
layers  forming  the  table  moun- 
tains which  are  1,400  feet  thick, 
1,700  feet  wide  *  *  *  where  the 
river  beds  have  been  washed 
out,  and  have  been  covered 
again  to  the  depth  of  from  three 
to  four  thousand  feet  more,  since 
the  lava  flow." 

The  paper  set  forth  a  great 
displacement  of  a  vast  area. 

Any  one  visiting  the  Great  Salt 
Lake  basin  of  CJtah,  may  notice 


what  is  said  to  be  the  ancient 
water  line  of  Salt  Lake,  far  up 
the  range  of  the  Wasatch  moun- 
tains. The  canyons  having  been 
formed  since,  the  subsidence  of 
the  lake  followed,  of  course,  leav- 
ing the  water  line  far  up  the 
mountain  side. 

Along  the  line  of  the  Union 
Pacific  railroad,  Wyoming  pre- 
sents evidences  of  having  been 
the  bottom  of  a  sea. 

At  Leadville,  Colorado,  in 
March  1891,  the  papers  described 
articles  found  four  hundred  and 
sixty  feet  below  the  surface,  a 
copper  arrowhead  and  human 
bones. 

Near  Laconia,  Arkansas,  in 
October  1891,  the  papers  report- 
ed a  case  of  boring  through 
brick  at  a  depth  of  one  hundred 
and  twenty-five  feet. 

Josiah  Priest's  work  of  1833, 
describes  the  finding  of  a 
stump  of  a  tree  in  each  of 
three  wells  at  the  depth  respec- 
tively of  eighty,  ninety  and  ninety - 
four  feet,  and  that  on  one  of  the 
stumps,  there  was  the  rust  of 
what  was  supposed  to  be  the 
decayed  ax.  He  also  says  the 
strokes  of  the  ax  were  visible  on 
the  stumps.  This  was  at  Cin- 
cinnati, Ohio,  in  1826. 

At  Bradford,  Pennsylvania, 
while  boring  for  oil  a  few  years 
since,  at  a  depth  of  two  hundred 
and  fifty  feet,  a  pine  tree  four 
feet  in  diameter  was  drilled 
through.  Many  other  state- 
ments   of    similar  displacement 


r 


THE  BOOK  OF  MORMON  AND  ITS  TRANSLATOR. 


13 


could  be  presented.  These  given, 
are,  however,  quite  sufficient  to 
confirm  the  Book  of  Mormon 
claim  on  that  point. 

The  data  of  earthquakes,  as 
given  by  Prof.  Taylor,  of  Brook- 
lyn, New  York,  is  significant  in 
this  connection.  Up  to  the  chris- 
tian era,  he  says,  there  was  one 
in  twenty-nine  years,  while  from 
1850  to  1868  he  gives  two  hun- 
dred and  seventy-seven  in  one 
year  as  the  average.  A  reason- 
able conclusion,  therefore,  being, 
that  the  ancient  displacements 
we  have  referred  to,  a  very  few 
of  a  vast  number,  represent  too 
many  for  the  earthquake  or  vol- 
canic theory ;  for  in  ancient  times 
they  appear  to  have  been  too 
infrequent  for  such  widespread 
displacement  as  discoveries  show 
took  place,  and,  therefore,  the 
general  cataclysm  of  which  the 
Book  of  Mormon  speaks,  is  the 
better  sustained. 

The  Book  of  Mormon  tells 
plainly  the  origin  of  the  Ameri- 
can Indian.  When  it  is  remem- 
bered by  the  reader  that  its 
claims: 

First,  As  to  plates. 

Second,  As  to  two  civilizations. 

Third,  As  to  mastodon,  ele- 
phant and  horse. 

Fourth,  As  to  the  flora  and 
fauna  of  Central  America  com- 
ing from  central  Asia. 

Fifth,  As  to  submarine  going 
vessels. 

Sixth,  As  to  the  cliff  dwellers. 

Seventh,  As  to  the  great  con- 


tinental displacement — have  been 
so  wonderfully  supported,  and 
its  story  found  to  be  true,  why 
not  its  story  relative  to  the 
Indian  be  accepted?  It  should 
be  remembered,  too,  that  the 
problem  as  to  who  the  Indian  is, 
and  from  whence  he  came  dates 
with  the  civilized  world  from 
about  1492,  over  four  hundred 
years. 

Many  theories  have  been  spun, 
but  they  have  not  settled  the 
mysterious  question.  The  fol- 
lowing project,  begun  in  1896  I 
believe,  shows  the  question  still 
to  be  open: 

"Morris  K.  Jessup,  president 
of  the  American  Museum  of 
Natural  History  of  New  York 
city,  is  the  originator  of  an  ex- 
pedition, and  will  pay  all  the 
bills  connected  with  it,  which 
during  the  six  years  of  its  con- 
tinuance will  reach  considerably 
over  $50,000." 

Descriptive  of  the  purpose,  the 
current  report  of  the  press  was: 

"The  principal  point  to  be  de- 
termined by  the  explorations  is 
whether  or  not  the  primeval 
American  Indians  and  Esqui- 
maux came  from  Asia  originally. " 

The  expedition  was  to  explore 
in  northeastern  Asia  and  north- 
western America.  A  partial  re- 
port was  given  at  Detroit,  Michi- 
gan, August  1897,  at  the  con- 
vention of  the  American  Associa- 
tion for  the  Advancement  of 
Sciences.  So  on  this  point,  the 
Book  of  Mormon   story   stands 


14       THE  BOOK  OF  MORMON  AND  ITS  TRANSLATOR. 


uncontradicted,  the  question  still 
being  open  and  investigation  con- 
tinuing. Of  a  vast  amount  of 
evidence  at  hand,  but  few  cita- 
tions are  here  given,  brevity 
being  the  special  point  desired 
in  the  present  treatise.  The 
Book  of  Mormon  clearly  states 
that  the  Indian  is  the  remnant  of 
the  second  colonization  on  this 
continent,  and  that  it  was  effect- 
ed by  a  Jeivish  colony  coming 
from  Jerusalem  about  six  hun- 
dred years  B.  C. 

Bancroft,  whose  research  is, 
perhaps,  as  wide  as  any,  says: 

"The  theory  that  the  Ameri- 
cans are  of  Jewish  descent,  has 
been  discussed  more  minutely, 
and  at  greater  lengtb,  than  any 
other.  Its  advocates,  or  at  least 
those  of  them  who  have  made 
original  researches,  are  com- 
paratively few,  but  the  extent  of 
their  investigations,  and  the 
multitude  of  parallelisms  they 
adduce  in  support  of  their  hy- 
pothesis exceed  by  far  any- 
thing that  we  have  yet  encoun- 
tered."— Native  Races  of  Pacific 
States,  Vol.  5,  pp.  77,  78. 

Bancroft's  wide  research  then, 
has  revealed  that,  though  "but 
feiv  have  made  original  researches^ ' ' 
the  ^'multitud.e  oj  parallelisms  ex- 
ceed by  far''  the  support  of  other 
themnes. 

Of  the  Indians,  Josiah  Priest 
says: 

"Their  Jewish  customs  are 
too  many  to  be  enumerated  in 
this  work.      Hebrew  words  are 


found  among  the  American  In- 
dians in  considerable  variety." — 
American  Antiquities,  pp.  59,  65. 

Rev.  Ethan  Smith  says  of  the 
Indians  in  his  work: 

"Their  languages  in  their 
roots,  idioms  and  particular  con- 
struction, appear  to  have  the 
whole  genius  of  the  Hebrew; 
and  what  is  very  remarkable, 
have  most  of  the  p>eculiarities  of 
that  language,  especially  those 
in  which  it  differs  from  most 
other  languages." — See  Ameri- 
can Indians, by  Smith,  pp.  98, 101. 

Mr.  Bancroft  describes  an 
ancient  relic: 

"The  slab,  which  I  saw  my- 
self, was  shown  to  the  Episco- 
palian clergyman  of  Newark 
[Ohio],  and  he  pronounced  the 
writing  to  be  the  ten  command- 
ments in  ancient  Hebrew. " — Na- 
tive Races  Pacific  States,  Vol.  5, 
p.  95. 

Numerous  other  similar  evi- 
dences are  at  hand,  but,  as  it  is 
seen  by  the  statements  of  Ban- 
croft, Priest,  and  Smith,  that 
the  preponderance  of  evidence 
is  in  favor  of,  and  maintains 
the  Book  of  Mormon  story, 
more  evidence  is,  therefore,  un- 
necessary. 

The  Book  of  Mormon  having 
furnished  the  facts  in  advance  of 
modeom  research,  of  ancient  Ameri- 
cans having  written  on  metalic 
plates,  describing  the  two  an- 
cient civilizations,  the  existence 
and  domestic  use  of  mastodon, 
elephant  and  horse,  as  well  as 


THE  BOOK  OF  MORMON  AND  ITS  TRANSLATOR.        15 


that  the  plants  of  Central  Ameri- 
ca, as  also  that  animals,  were 
introduced  from  Asia;  its  story 
also  bein^  in  advance  of  modern 
naval  construction;  and  in  ad- 
vance on  information  with  re- 
spect to  the  ancient  cliff  dweller 
phase  and  type  of  life;  the  dis- 
closure of  the  fact  of  the  great 
continental  cataclysm  of  cen- 
turies agone,  and  finally,  reveal- 
ing so  clearly  from  whence  the 
Indian  came,  it  can  truthfully  be 
said  to  be  a  valuable  feature  of 
modern  literature. 

The  Book  of  Mormon  has  also 
been  much  criticized  and  ridi- 
culed because  of  literary  inele- 
gance in  its  construction.  Is 
that  only  true,  which  is  written 
in  the  most  scholarly  style? 
Peter  and  other  Galilean  fisher- 
men did  not  write  as  elegantly 
as  Paul,  who  was  tutored  at  the 
feet  of  Gamaliel.  Are  Peter's 
writings  less  true  because  not  so 
polished  as  those  of  Paul?  Might 
a  farmer  write  as  true  a  story, 
though  he  did  not  dot  all  of  his 
''i's",  or  cross  all  of  his  "t's", 
as  a  lawyer  with  all  his  finish? 
Alexander  Roberts  D.  D.,  author 
of  "Comparison  to  the  Revised 
New  Testament,"  and  who  had 
the  benefit  of  the  experience  of 
the  eighty-two  scholars  and  their 
ten  years  work  of  revision,  says 
on  page  11: 

"Biblical  critics  have  adopted 
two  great  principles  as  guides 
to  a  decision  with  respect  to  the 
true  text  of  scripture.     The  first 


is,  that  a  difficult  or  obscure  ex- 
pression, nay,  even  an  almost 
unintelligible  term,  or  a  wholly 
ungrammatical  construction,  is 
generally  to  be  regarded  as  the 
genuine  reading,  in  preference 
to  another  which  is  easy,  familiar, 
and  correct." 

Literary  elegance  is  admirable 
but  not  imperatively  essential 
to  a  truthful  story.  It  is 
a  splendid  compliment  to  the 
Book  of  Mormon  that  its  crit- 
ics have  been  driven  to  such 
desj.  erate  straights,  and  have 
been  defeated  ail  along  the  line. 
It  is  the  prejudiced  and  intoler- 
ant who  have  tried  to  defeat  it. 
In  the  language  of  Captain  Sigs- 
bee  to  the  American  people  in 
reference  to  the  destruction  of 
the  Maine,  we  say  to  the  reader, 
"suspend  judgment  till  you  know 
the  facts. " 

Read  the  Book  of  Mormon  for 
yourself. 

What  of  Joseph  Smith  and 
his  work?  Should  not  as  fair  and 
impartial  aa  examination  be  made 
of  both,  that,  in  justice,  is 
accorded  to  every  man  and  his 
work?  How  many  have  been 
willing  to  do  this  in  the  case  of 
Mr.  Smith?  Whose  case  or  cause 
is  safe  in  the  hands  of  enemies? 
If  we  listen  to  the  enemies  of  the 
Savior,  he  came  into  the  world 
an  illegimate,  and  was  an  im- 
postor of  the  deepest  dye.  By 
his  enemies  he  was  crucified  as 
such.  Is  it  not  a  conceded  fact, 
that  to  get  proper  information 


16        THE  BOOK  OF  MORMON  AND  ITS  TRANSLATOR. 


relative  to  the  Savior  and  his 
work,  his  oion  story,  and  that  of 
his  frierids  must  be  investigated. 
Solomon  wrote  in  Proverbs: 

"He  that  answereth  a  matter 
before  he  heareth  it,  it  is  a  folJy 
and  a  shame  unto  him. " 

To  the  several  reformers  from 
Luther  to  the  present,  it  has 
been  accorded,  that,  though  dif- 
fering from  each  other,  each  had 
the  right  to  make  such  effort,  and 
be  heard  in  his  own  defense. 
Why  not  Joseph  Smith  be  added 
to  the  list?  Strange  enough, 
those  who  have  accorded  such 
right  to  others,  almost  to  a  man, 
condemn  Joseph  Smith  and  his 
work,  and  that  too,  without  an 
investigation.     Is  that  fair? 

Most  of  those  who  have  made 
a  pretense  of  examining,  have 
been  content  with  what  enemies 
have  produced.  Would  they  want 
enemies  to  represent  them  or 
their  cause?  Galileo,  though 
alone,  was  right  in  the  facts 
with  which  he  dealt  on  the  glob- 
ular theory.  Joseph  Smith  may 
have  been  too. 

Reform  is  to  form  again. 
Which  of  the  reformers  got  the 
gospel  and  church  just  as  it  was 
in  the  days  of  the  Savior?  Giv- 
ing them  credit  as  honest  men, 
was  not  that  their  attempt?  Had 
they  agreed,  all  would  have  pro- 
duced the  same?  Since  they  dif- 
fer, which  is  right?  While  all  of 
them  produced  some  things  of 
the  gospel  and  church,  none  in- 
cluded all.     Joseph  Smith,  alone. 


held  the  church  and  gospel  must 
be  entirely  identical  in  every  re- 
spect, with  what  it  was  in  the 
days  of  the  Savior. 

Was  it  the  mark  of  a  bad  man 
to  do  this?  All  his  writings, 
during  fourteen  years  of  his 
eventful  career,  evidence  this. 
The  differences  of  the  reformers 
and  their  variations  from  scrip- 
tural truth  and  fact,  show  they 
did  not  succeed  in  their  respec- 
tive attempts.  Mr.  Smith  did 
not  ask  that  any  Bible  truth  or 
principle  be  set  aside,  but  that 
all  be  maintained  and  held  of 
equal  merit  and  importance. 

The  religious,  to  whose  dif- 
fering theories  Mr.  Smith's 
position  was  in  opposition,  manu- 
factured reputation  for  him, as  did 
the  Pharisees  and  Sadducees  for 
the  Savior.  As  that  did  not  in- 
vahdate  the  work  of  the  Savior, 
neither  can  it  the  work  of  Mr. 
Smith.  Reputation  may  be  made 
for  a  man  by  others,  character 
he  makes  himself.  Although  the 
Bible  tells  us  Moses  killed  an 
Egyptian  and  hid  him  in  the 
sand,  he  and  his  work  stand  ap- 
proved with  Bible  believers. 
Although  David  had  Uriah  placed 
in  the  front  of  the  battle  and 
murdered,  taking  his  wife  to  his 
harem,  the  Psalms  are  still  read 
and  revered  as  sacred  truth. 
Although  Solomon  had  seven 
hundred  wives  and  three  hun- 
dred concubines,  the  Proverbs 
still  hold  their  place.  Now,  in 
the  light  of  all  this,  if  Joseph 


r 


THE  BOOK  OF  MORMON  AND  ITS  TRANSLATOR.        17 


Smith  luas  guilty  of  all  claimed 
against  him,  should  his  good 
work  be  set  aside? 

Joseph  Smith  passed  through 
the  fiery  ordeal  of  many  arrests 
and  prosecutions,  and  not  one 
action  sustained,  is  recorded  on 
the  court  dockets  of  the  country 
against  him.  A  pitiable  con- 
fession of  this  is  seen  at  once  in 
the  conditions  of  the  cowardly 
and  dastardly  murder  of  Joseph 
and  Hyrum  Smith,  which  oc- 
curred on  June  27,  1844,  at  Car- 
thage, Illinois.  They  being  under 
arrest.  Governor  Ford  pledged 
the  protection  of  the  state  of 
Illinois,  then  detailed  the 
Carthage  greys  as  guard,  who 
were  the  avowed  and  pronounced 
bitter  enemies  of  the  prisoners, 
disbanding  the  rest  of  the  state 
militia.      The   murder  followed. 

What  man  or  men  would  select 
a  guard  for  a  prisoner  who  were 
pronounced  and  bitter  enemies 
of  his,  from  the  standpoint  of 
justice?  Did  our  military  and 
naval  officers  turn  Spanish 
prisoners  over  to  Cubans?  The 
defenders  of  Joseph  Smith  and 
his  work  have  demanded  for 
years,  that  from  the  court 
records  there  be  produced  evi- 
dence against  him,  since  he  was 
arraigned  before  the  law  so  often. 
Not  one  entry  successfully  main- 
tained has  ever  been  produced. 

Mr.  Beadle  in  his  work,  pro 
duced  something  that  comes  in 
nicely  as  corroborative  evidence 
here.     He  says: 


"The  Missourians  found,  in  the 
meantime,  that  they  had  caught 
an  elephant;  they  had  Joe  Smith, 
his  brother  Hyrum,  and  forty 
others  in  jail  on  a  multitude  of 
charges,  but  many  of  the  wit- 
nesses were  gone,  the  trial  would 
have  been  long  and  expensive, 
and  it  was  probably  the  best 
policy  to  get  them  all  out  of  the 
state  in  such  a  way  that  none 
would  re-enter  it,  rather  than 
condemn  a  few  to  the  peniten- 
tiary."— p.  50. 

This  was  written  of  theaccum 
ulated  Missouri  troubles  of  which 
on  page  48,  Mr.  Beadle  wrote: 

"The  evidence  in  the  case  was 
printed  by  order  of  the  Missouri 
legislature  and  presents  a  singu- 
lar case  of  how  a  few  knaves  may 
lead  to  their  destruction  a  whole 
people,  if  sufficiently  ignorant 
and  fanatical." 

What  was  the  difference  about 
the  witnesses  being  gone,  when 
the  evidence  had  been  printed  by 
order  of  the  Missouri  legislature? 
Religious  bigotry  and  intoler- 
ance, with  the  hatred  that  slave- 
holders had  for  those  opposed  to 
slavery,  as  were  the  Latter  Day 
Saints,  led  to  their  lawless  ex- 
pulsion from  the  state  of  Mis- 
souri; and  having  arrested  many 
of  them,  and  with  no  evidence 
with  which  to  proceed,  the  trial 
did  not  take  place.  When  later, 
in  Illinois,  arrests  had  been  made, 
and  they  were  again  short  on 
evidence,  resort  was  had  to  the 
murder  that  followed. 


18        THE  BOOK  OF  MORMON  AND  ITS  TRANSLATOR. 


It  is  singularly  strange  that 
the  encyclopedias  and  similar 
works  have  continued  to  present 
the  old  stale  tales  about  Smith 
and  his  work;  scarce  two  of  them 
can  be  found  to  agree,  and  most 
of  them  are  so  utterly  contra- 
dictory of  known  facts,  as  to  be 
at  once  unreliable  to  even  the 
casual  reader.  For  instance; 
characterizing  Smith  as  the  em- 
bodiment of  laziness  and  ignor- 
ance, and  then  crediting  him 
with  digging  over  what  would 
seem  considerable  tracts  of  New 
York  and  Pennsylvania  in  quest 
of  treasures,  plates,  etc. ;  charg- 
ing  him  with  being  an  ignorant 
profligate,  then  admitting  his 
shrewdness;  as  the  courts  never 
made  a  case  against  him. 

Mr.  Smith's  position  on  gospel 
truth,  in  effect,  declared  the 
theology  of  the  world  in  his  time 
to  have  more  of  fallacy  than  truth. 
Strangely  enough,  the  Presby- 
terian church,  to  which  his 
mother  and  three  other  members 
of  the  family  belonged  (and  were 
in  good  standing),  rejected  the 
confession  of  faith  as  formulated 
by  Calvin  in  1643,  in  its  assembly 
of  1892.  It  is  neither  revised, 
nor  another  manufactured  as  the 
necessary  "two  thirds  vote"  to 
do  so,  has  not  yet  been  secured. 
The  Methodist  conference  too, 
which  met  in  quadriennial  ses- 
sion at  Cleveland,  Ohio,  in  May, 
1896,  appointed  a  committee  of 
seven  on  revision.  Other 
churches  have  taken  similar  ac- 


tion. So  Mr.  Smith's  position  as 
to  faulty  theology  is  maintained. 
Not  a  position  affirmed  by  him, 
has  been  shown  to  be  erroneous; 
and  the  work  of  no  man  has  been 
so  unceasingly  criticized  and 
bitterly  opposed;  yet  it  has  with- 
stood all  criticism. 

The  Solomon  Spaulding  ro- 
mance, written  1809-12,  and 
traced  in  the  custody  of  his  wife 
'till  1834,  then  turned  over  to  K 
D.  Howe,  of  Painesville,  Ohio, 
who  said  in  his  work  (the  first 
against  Latter  Day  Saints),  it  was 
not  printed,  because  it  did  not 
read  as  expected,  was  sold  in 
1839,  with  other  printer's  belong- 
ings, to  L.  L.  Rice,  who  removed 
to  Honolulu,  Sandwich  Islands. 
It  was  brought  to  light  by  Prof. 
James  H.  Fairchildin  1885,  when 
visiting  Mr.  Rice,  and  who,  with 
Mr.  Rice,  compared  it  with  the 
Book  of  Mormon,  finding  not  the 
least  point  of  similarity,  and  re- 
vealing why  Howe  did  not  use  it. 
Prof.  Fairchild  prepared  a  copy 
from  the  authenticated  original  for 
the  Reorganized  Church  of  Jesus 
Christ  of  Latter  Day  Saints, 
who  have  published  it  to  the 
world,  exposing  as  a  gross  error 
what  the  clergy,  publishers,  and 
many  others  had  clung  to  for 
fifty  five  years  as  their  strong 
defense  against,  and  defeat  of  the 
Book  of  Mormon.  How  are  the 
mighty  fallen.  Swearing  to  that 
for  fifty-five  years,  it  is  most  too 
late  for  something  else.  When 
will  the  encyclopedias  and  the 


THE  BOOK  OF  MORMON  AND  ITS  TRANSLATOR.        19 


family  Bible  publishers  -stop 
publishing  that  old  exploded  yam? 
Verily  Mr.  Smith  and  his  work 
are  hard  to  down,  while  pub- 
lishers are  a  difficult  class  to 
reform,  though  they  should  not 
be. 
An  instance  in  evidence: 
"About  a  year  ago  Albert  A. 
Pope,  renowned  for  his  persist- 
ent advocacy  of  good  roads  in 
the  United  States,  addressed 
circulars  to  school  teachers  in- 
viting them  to  send  him  notes  of 
any  mis-statements  of  fact  that 
appeared  in  any  school  book  used 
throughout  the  country  under 
the  authority  of  a  school  com- 
mittee. As  a  result  he  received 
notes  of  no  less  than  5360  alleged 
errors,  tabulations  of  which  were 
sent  to  various  publishers  and 
authors.  The  errors  admitted  to 
be  such  by  the  publishers  and 
authors  themselves  number  673, 
the  rejections  from  the  same 
3114,  and  no  answers  have  been 
received  in  regard  to  1573.  Mr. 
Pope  states,  what  might  have 
been  expected,  that  those  whose 
books  appear  to  be  extremely 
faulty,  have  refused  to  assist  in 
making  corrections;  but  that 
many  of  the  leading  houses  wel- 
comed the  criticisms  in  a  friend- 
ly spirit,  and  arranged  to  make 
corrections  in  their  plates  of 
such  errors  as  they  admitted  to 
exist. " — Chicago  Tribune. 

In  the  days  of  the  Savior  they 
were  loud  in  their  praises  of 
Moses  and  the  prophets,  but  re- 


jected Christ  and  his  gospel. 
The  Jews  and  others  have  con- 
tinued their  misrepresentations 
to  this  day.  So  it  has  been,  and 
may  continue  to  be  with  Joseph 
Smith — endless  misrepresenta- 
tion. Although,  throughout  the 
fourteen  years,  in  the  vast  amount 
published  from  his  pen,  nothing 
sanctioning  polygamy  appears, 
but  much  to  condemn  it,  he  has 
been  charged  with  it;  nor  has 
the  silly  and  unfounded  charge 
ceased,  though  the  Circuit  Court 
at  Painesville,  Ohio,  in  Kirtland 
temple  case  in  February,  1880, 
vindicated  *him,  as  did  also  the 
United  States  court  for  the 
western  district  of  Missouri,  at 
Kansas  City,  in  1894,  on  Temple 
Lot  case. 

The  following  extracts  from 
decisions  referred  to,  are  given, 
showing  that  the  courts  have  ex- 
onorated  Joseph  Smith  from 
the  corruption  of  Utah  Mormon- 
ism.  And  also  to  show  the  iden- 
tity of  the  Reorganized  church 
with  the  original  church  of  which 
it  is  the  legal  successor: 

"That  the  said  Plaintiff,  the 
Reorganized  Church  of  Jesus 
Christ  of  Latter  Day  Saints,  is  a 
Religious  Society,  founded  and 
organized  upon  the  same  doc- 
trines and  tenets,  and  having  the 
same  church  organization,  as  the 
original  Church  of  Jesus  Christ 
of  Latter  Day  Saints,  organized 
in  1830,  by  Joseph  Smith,  and 
was  organized  pursuant  to  the 
constitution,  laws  and  usages  of 


20        THE  BOOK  OF  MORMON  AND  ITS  TRANSLATOR. 


said  original  church,  and  has 
branches  located  in  Illinois,  Ohio, 
and  other  states. 

"That  the  church  in  Utah,  the 
Defendant,  of  which  John  TayJor 
is  President,  has  materially  and 
largely  departed  from  the  faith, 
doctrines,  laws,  ordinances  and 
usages  of  said  original  Church  of 
Jesus  Christ  of  Latter  Day 
Saints,  and  has  incorporated  in- 
to its  system  of  faith,  the  doc- 
trines of  Celestial  Marriage  and 
a  plurality  of  wives,  and  the  doc- 
trine of  Adam-god  worship,  con- 
trary to  the  laws  and  constitu- 
tion of  said  original  church. 

"And  the  Court  do  further 
find  that  the  Plaintiff,  the  Reor- 
ganized Church  of  Jesus  Christ 
of  Latter  Day  Saints,  is  the  True 
and  Lawful  continuation  of,  and 
Successor  to  the  said  original 
Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Lat- 
ter Day  Saints,  organized  in  1830, 
and  is  entitled  in  law  to  all  its 
rights  and  property." 

"The  Utah  Church  further  de- 
parted from  the  principles  and 
doctrines  of  the  Original  Church 
by  changing  in  their  teaching 
the  first  statement  in  the  Article 
of  Faith,  which  was,  'We  believe 
in  God,  the  Eternal  Father,  and 
in  his  Son,  Jesus  Christ,  and  in 
the  Holy  Ghost,'  and  in  lieu 
thereof  taught  the  doctrine  of 
'Adam  God  worship, '  which,  as 
announced  in  Journal  of  Discourses 
by  Brigham  Young,  is  as  follows: 

"  'When  our  father  Adam  came 
into  the  Garden  of  Eden,  he  came 


into  it  with  a  celestial  body,  and 
brought  Eve,  one  of  his  wives, 
with  him.  He  helped  to  make 
and  organize  this  world.  He  is 
Michael  the  Archangel,  the  An- 
cient of  Days,  about  whom  holy 
men  have  written  and  spoken — 
He  is  our  Father  and  our  God, 
and  the  only  God  with  whom  we 
have  to  do. ' 

"It  has  introduced  societies  of 
a  secret  order,  and  established 
secret  oaths  and  covenants,  con- 
trary to  the  book  of  teachings  of 
the  old  church.  It  has  changed 
the  duties  of  the  President,  and 
of  the  Twelve,  and  established 
the  doctrine  to  'Obey  Counsel,' 
and  has  changed  the  order  of  the 
'Seventy,  or  Evangelists.' " 

"Decree  will  go  in  favor  of 
Complainant,  establishing  the 
trust  in  its  favor  against  Re- 
spondents, removing  the  cloud 
from  the  title,  enjoining  Respond- 
ents from  asserting  title  to  the 
property,  and  awarding  the  pos- 
session to  the  Complainant." 

When  Joseph  Smith  could  not 
be  convicted  of  crime  before  the 
courts,  he  was  murdered.  Now 
that  he  has  been  vindicated  by 
the  courts,  some  people  still 
misrepresent  him.  The  Savior 
said  of  himself  and  those  who 
would  teach  his  truth,  "If  the 
world  hate  you,  ye  know  that  it 
hated  me  before  it  hated  you.  "— 
John  15:  18. 

Among  the  almost  endless  mis- 
representations of  Joseph  Smith 
and  his  work,  there  has  appeared 


THE  BOOK  OF  MORMON  AND  ITS  TRANSLATOR.        21 


some  things  in  his  defense  from 
those  outside  of  church  associa- 
tion with  him.  Some  of  these 
are  presented: 

Smucker,inhis  "History  of  the 
Mormons,  gives  the  account  of 
Joseph  Smith  as  given  by  a 
Methodist  minister  named  Prior 
(See  Smucker,  p.  151): 

"  'I  will  not  attempt,'  said  this 
writer,  'to  describe  the  various 
feelings  of  my  bosom  as  I  took 
my  seat  in  a  conspicuous  place 
in  the  congregation,  who  were 
waiting  in  breathless  silence  for 
his  appearance.  While  he  tarried, 
I  had  plenty  of  time  to  revolve 
in  my  mind  the  character  and 
common  report  of  that  truly  sin- 
gular personage.  I  fancied  that 
I  should  behold  a  countenance 
sad  and  sorrowful,  yet  contain- 
ing the  fiery  marks  of  rage  and 
exasperation.  I  supposed  that 
I  should  be  enabled  to  discover 
in  him  some  of  those  thoughtful 
and  reserved  features,  those 
mystic  and  sarcastic  glances, 
which  I  had  fancied  the  ancient 
sages  to  possess.  I  expected  to 
see  that  fearful,  faltering  look  of 
conscious  shame,  which,  from 
what  I  had  heard  of  him,  he 
might  be  expected  to  evince.  He 
appeared  at  last;  but  how  was  I 
disappointed,  when,  instead  of 
the  heads  and  horns  of  the  beast 
and  false  prophet,  I  beheld  only 
the  appearance  of  a  common  man 
of  tolerably  large  proportions. 
I  was  sadly  disappointed,  and 
thought  that,   although    his  ap- 


pearance could  not  be  wrested  to 
indicate  anything  against  him, 
yet  he  would  manifest  all  I  had 
heard  of  him  when  he  began  to 
preach.  I  sat  uneasily,  and 
watched  him  closely.  He  com- 
menced preaching,  not  from  the 
Book  of  Mormon,  however,  but 
from  the  Bible;  the  first  chapter 
of  the  first  of  Peter  was  his  text. 
He  commenced  calmly,  and  con- 
tinued dispassionately  to  pursue 
his  subject,  while  I  satin  breath- 
less silence,  waiting  to  hear  that 
foul  aspersion  of  the  other  sects, 
that  diabolical  disposition  of  re- 
veoge,  and  to  hear  that  rancor- 
ous denunciation  of  every  indi- 
vidual but  a  Mormon.  I  waited 
in  vain;  I  listened  with  surprise; 
I  sat  uneasy  in  my  seat,  and 
could  hardly  persuade  myself 
but  that  he  had  been  apprised  of 
my  presence,  and  so  ordered  his 
discourse  on  my  account,  that  I 
might  not  be  able  to  find  fault 
with  it,  for  instead  of  jumbled 
jargon  of  half  connected  sen- 
tences, and  a  volley  of  impreca- 
tions, and  diabolical  and  malig- 
nant denunciations  heaped  upon 
the  heads  of  all  who  differed 
from  him,  and  the  dreadful  twist- 
ing and  wresting  of  the  Scrip- 
tures to  suit  his  own  peculiar 
views,  and  attempts  to  weave  a 
web  of  dark  and  mystic  sophis- 
try around  the  gospel  truths, 
which  I  had  anticipated,  heglided 
along  through  a  very  interesting 
and  elaborate  discourse,  with  all 
the  care  and  happ}'^  felicity  of 


22       THE  BOOK  OF  MORMON  AND  ITS  TRANSLATOR. 


one  who  was  well  aware  of  his 
important  station,  and  his  duty 
to  God  and  man. '  " 

Prom  figures  of  the  past.  From 
the  leaves  of  old  journals,  page 
376,  by  Josiah  Quincy,  Class  of 
Harvard  College,  1821,  published 
at  Boston,  Massachusetts,  by 
Messrs.  Roberts  Brothers,  1883: 

"It  is  by  no  means  improbable 
that  some  future  text  book,  for 
the  use  of  generations  yet  un- 
born, will  contain  a  question 
something  like  this:  What  his- 
torical American  of  the  nine- 
teenth century  has  exerted  the 
most  powerful  influence  upon 
the  destinies  of  his  countrymen? 
And  it  is  by  no  means  impossible 
that  the  answer  to  that  interrog- 
atory may  be  thus  written:  Jo- 
seph Smith  the  Mormon  Prophet. 
And  the  reply,  absurd  as  it  will 
doubtless  seem  to  most  men  now 
living,  may  be  an  obvious  com- 
monplace to  their  descendants. 
History  deals  in  surprises  and 
paradoxes  quite  as  startling  as 
this.  The  man  who  established 
a  religion  in  this  age  of  free  de- 
bate, and  who  was  and  is  today, 
accepted  by  hundreds  of  thou- 
sands as  a  direct  emissary  from 
the  Most  High,  such  a  rare  hu- 
man being  is  not  to  be  disp<^sed 
of  by  pelting  his  memory  with 
unsavory  epithets.  Fanatic,  im- 
postor, charlatan,  he  may  have 
been,  but  these  hard  names  fur- 
nish no  solution  to  the  problem 
he  presents  to  us.  Fanatics  and 
impostors  are  living  and  dying 


every  day,  and  their  memory  is 
buried  with  them.  But  the  won- 
derful influence  which  this 
founder  of  religion  exerted  and 
still  exerts,  throws  him  into  re- 
lief before  us,  not  as  a  rogue  to 
be  criminated,  but  as  a  phenom- 
enon to  be  explained.  *  *  *  Jo- 
seph Smith  claiming  to  be  an  in- 
spired teacher,  faced  adversity 
such  as  few  men  have  been  called 
to  meet,  enjoyed  a  brief  season 
of  prosperity  such  as  few  men 
ever  attained,  and  finally,  forty- 
three  days  after  I  visited  and 
saw  him,  went  cheerfully  to  a 
martyr's  death.  A  fine  looking 
man,'is  what  the  passer-by  would 
instinctivjely  have  murmured  up- 
on meeting  the  remarkable  indi- 
vidual who  had  fashioned  the 
mold  upon  which  was  to  be 
shaped  the  feelings  of  so  many 
thousands  of  his  fellow  mortals. 
But  Smith  was  more  than  this, 
and  one  could  not  resist  the  im- 
pression that  capacity  and  re- 
source were  natural  to  his  stal- 
wart person.  I  have  already 
mentioned  the  resemblance  he 
bore  to  Elisha  R.  Potter,  of 
Rhode  Island,  whom  I  met  in 
Washington  in  1826.  The  like- 
ness was  not  such  as  would  be 
recognized  in  a  picture,  but  rath- 
er one  that  would  be  felt  in  a 
grave  emergency.  Of  all  men  I 
have  met,  these  two  seemed  the 
best  endowed  with  that  kingly 
faculty  which  directs,  as  by  in- 
trinsic right,  the  feeble  or  con- 
fused souls  who  are  looking  for 


THE  BOOK  OF  MORMON  AND  ITS  TRANSLATOR. 


23 


guidance.  *  *  *  " 

In  the  Dubuque  (la.)  Daily 
Times,  April  12,  1893,  there  ap- 
peared an  article  speaking  of  the 
establishment  of  the  Latter  Day 
Saint  church,  thus:  ''It  was 
founded  by  an  ignorant,  dissi- 
pated member  of  a  vicious 
family  which  had  a  well  earned 
reputation  of  being  thieves  and 
drunkards,  etc." 

Mr.  Samuel  Murdock,  who  had 
as  his  neighbor  the  only  surviv- 
ing brother  of  Joseph  Smith, 
took  up  the  defense  in  the  issue 
of  13th,  in  these  words: 

"I  have  no  more  sympathy  or 
feeling  for  either  branch  of  the 
Mormon  church  than  you  have, 
but  I  have  a  strong  sympathetic 
feeling  and  friendship  for  some 
of  the  Smith  family  who  are  still 
living,  and  to  whom  your  lan- 
guage above  quoted,  does  great 
injustice,  and  I  also  know  that 
when  you  hear  from  me  a  few 
facts,  your  kindness  will  prompt 
you  to  repair  in  some  manner, 
the  wrong  you  have  inflicted  up- 
on them.  Kirtland  is  situated  in 
the  county  in  which  I  was  raised 
from  youth  to  manhood.  *  *  *  I 
lived  among  the  daily  talk  and 
excitement  of  the  'New  Faith, '  or 
Latter  Day  Saints  as  they  were 
sometimes  called  at  that  time. 
From  the  time  they  settled  in 
my  county  until  they  left  it,  I 
must  say  that  during  all  that 
time  I  never  heard  Joseph  Smith 
called  a  thief,  a  drunkard,  or  a 
vicious  man,  even  by  his  worst 


enemies,  and  my  recollection  of 
him  to  this  late  day,  is  that  he 
was  a  tall,  graceful,  good  looking 
man,  continually  wearing  a  smile 
on  his  face  for  every  one,  and 
that  he  was  a  kind  hearted,  gen- 
erous friend  and  companion,  and 
that  it  was  his  .winning  manners 
by  which  he  succeeded  more 
than  anything  else.  Dupe,  im- 
postor, crazy  fanatic,  were  the 
common  words  applied  to  him 
by  the  gentiles  of  those  days, 
but  never  thief,  drunkard  or 
vicious.  *  *  *  Deluded  as  they 
were,  there  was  among  the  early 
Mormons  the  best  and  noblest 
of  mankind." 

Statement  of  Mr.  E.  S.  Sebree, 
of  Blendsville,  Missouri,  made 
May  21,  1895: 

"I  was  born  in  Kentucky,  in 
1816,  and  came  to  Missouri  in 
1835.  I  was  a  member  of  the 
State  Militia  that  went  from  Lib- 
erty, Clay  county,  Missouri,  to 
Far  West,  in  Capt.  Moss'  com- 
pany, and  was  present  at  the 
surrender  of  Joseph  Smith  and 
others  on  the  public  square  in 
the  city  of  Far  West;  and  was 
with  the  detail  and  went  to  Lib- 
erty with  them  as  guard,  where 
they  were  placed  in  jail  in  the 
month  of  November,  1838. 

"Joseph  Smith  was,  in  my 
opinion,  a  good  man.  I  never 
saw  or  heard  anything  to  the 
contrary.  As  for  his  being  a 
thief,  murderer,  or  a  bad,  vicious 
man,  I  did  not  believe  it  then, 
nor  do  I  beheve  it  now.     He  was 


24       THE  BOOK  OF  MORMON  AND  ITS  TRANSLATOR. 


a  fine  appearing  man,  and  would 
compare  favorably  with  any 
other  minister  of  my  acquaint- 
ance. I  never  heard  anything 
of  the  doctrine  of  polygramy.  It 
was  not  talked  of,  nor  heard  of, 
to  my  knowledge;  and  the  Lat- 
ter Day  Saints,  as  a  class,  in  my 
opinion,  was  as  virtuous  a  class 
of  people  as  I  ever  saw;  not  a 
taint  of  suspicion  of  any  kind  did 
I  ever  hear  against  any  of  them 
so  far  as  prostitution  was  con- 
cerned. 

"I  do  not  belong  to  any  church; 
and  have  no  motive  in  making 
this  statement  only  that  the 
truth  may  be  known;  neither  am 
I  prejudiced  in  favor  of  the  Lat- 
ter Day  Saints,  for  I  was  a  pro- 
slavery  man,  and  naturally  op- 
posed to  the  free  soil  ideas  of 
the  Latter  Day  Saints,  which,  in 
my  opinion,  was  the  cause  of 
their  expulsion  from  the  state  of 
Missouri. 

"Signed,     R  S.  Sebree. 
"Hearing  the  above  conversation, 
we  are  witnesses. 

"Signed,    T.  W.  Chatburn, 
"R.  M.  Maloney, 
"L.  W.  Maberry." 

Statement  of  T.  R  O  Daniel: 
"Macon,  Mo.,  Aug.  3,  1896. 

"This  is  to  certify  that  I,  T. 
F.  O'Daniel,  was  born  in  PhiJa- 
delphia,  Pennsylvania,  and  that 
I  lived  in  Warsaw,  Illinois,  dur- 
ing the  'Mormon  War'  or  Nau- 
voo  troubles.  Was  well  acquaint- 
ed with  Joseph  Smith  the 
prophet,  and  regarded  him  then, 
and  do  yet,  as  an  honest,  upright 


man,  conscientious  and  fearless 
in  what  he  deemed  right.  I  have 
heard  him  teach  and  preach  in 
Nauvoo,  but  never  heard  him  or 
anyone  else  teach  or  speak  of 
polygamy  being  a  doctrine  of  the 
church;  in  fact,  I  did  not  know 
of  anything  of  that  kind  until  in 
after  years  it  came  from  Salt 
Lake  City  that  the  Mormons 
were  pi'acticing  polygamy. 

"I  further  state  that  I  am  ac- 
quainted with  the  facts  leading 
to  the  killing  of  Joseph  Smith, 
at  Carthage  jail,  and  know  the 
men  who  were  in  the  mob.  The 
real  cause,  in  my  opinion,  was 
that  the  Saints  were  all  "Whigs," 
or  an ti- slavery  men,  and  voted 
the  an  ti- slavery  ticket,  which 
finally  led  to  the  troubles,  and 
final  killing  of  Joseph  and  Hy- 
rum  Smith. 

"T.  F.  O 'Daniel. 

"T    W.  CHATBrRN,  ) 

"M.  M.  TuRPEN,       -  Witnesses." 
"F.  Palfrey.  ) 

"Akron,  O.,  March  9,  1899. 
"I,  the  undersigned,  was  born 
in  York  State,  in  the  town  of 
Sharzee,  on  March  9,  1816.  In 
1819  my  father  removed  to  Hunt- 
ington township,  Chittenden  Co., 
Vermont.  In  1835  he  removed 
to  within  four  miles  of  Akron, 
Ohio,  which  locality  has  been  my 
place  of  residence  'till  the  pres- 
ent. On  the  Dodge  farm,  three 
miles  north  of  New  Portage,  we 
lived  from  1836  to  1839.  This 
was  on  the  line  of  travel  west- 
ward of  the  Latter  Day  Saints  in 
those  days. 


THE  BOOK  OF  MORMON  AND  ITS  TRANSLATOR. 


"A  more  honest,  nice  people  I 
never  met.  They  bought  sup- 
plies of  my  father  and  camped  in 
front  of  our  house  near  a  large 
spring.  A  camp  would  remain 
for  days,  sometimes. 

'^Public  meetings  were  held  in 
New  Portage,  in  the  residence  of 
a  Mr.  Palmer;  also  in  a  warehouse. 
When  the  weather  would  admit, 
in  open  air;  also  in  tents  and 
barns.  I  attended  their  meet- 
ings often.  Honesty,  morality 
and  right  living  were  character- 
istic of  their  teaching  and  their 
practice  conformed  to  this.  I 
never  knew  one  to  fail  to  pay  for 
what  he  got.  Father  had  much, 
too,  they  could  have  stolen,  but 
we  never  missed  a  thing. 

'  'They  were  quiet  and  orderly, 
especially  on  the  Sabbath.  They 
were  a  people  who  were  well 
brought  up,  were  good  society, 
and  I  felt  lonesome  when  they 
would  break  camp. 

"Various  ones,  Palmer,  Baker, 
Whipple,  Brunson,  Griffith  and 
Taylor  owned  farms;  also  still 
others,  whose  names  I  cannot 
recall.     All  were  good  citizens. 

"I  heard  Joseph  Smith  and 
his  father,  the  patriarch,  both 
preach.  They  preached  good 
morals  and  manifested  the  same 
in  their  lives.  1  don't  know  why 
they  were  so  misrepresented, 
there  was  no  just  cause  for  it; 
they  were  perfect  gentlemen. 

"I  knew  Oliver  Cowdery,  heard 
him  preach  often;  he,  too,  was  a 
gentleman,    and    his    preaching 


good  and  of  an  elevating  influence 
on  the  rising  generation. 

*'My  parents  at  the  time  be- 
longed to  the  Free  Will  Baptists. 
They  often  took  some  of  the  camp- 
ers who  were  sick  into  the  house 
and  cared  for  them.  I  have  never 
belonged  to  any  church. 

"My  object  in  this  statement 
is  simply  to  tell  the  facts  in  the 
case  as  m  any  other  matter  with- 
in my  knowledge. 

"Signed,       Smith  Bunker. 

"A.  R.  Manchester,  ) 

"Ella  Manchester,  >•  Witnesses." 

"R.  Etzenhousbr.      ) 

Mrs.  R  A.  Austin  in  her  work 
"Mormonism,"  page  62: 

"There  were  now  (1831)  hun- 
dreds who  were  called  people  of 
good  sense  and  judgment,  men 
who  were  valued  in  good  society. " 
On  pages  58  and  59  is  found: 
"The  members  now  numbered 
about  one  hundred  persons,  the 
greater  part  of  whom  were  the 
brightest  and  best  of  the  com- 
munity, merchants,  lawyers  and 
doctors." 

The  above  refers  to  the  Kirt- 
land,  Ohio,  colony. 

Bancroft,in  his  work  published 
in  1890,  page  164,  says: 

"But  when  the  testimony  on 
both  sides  is  carefully  weighed, 
it  must  be  admitted  that  the 
Mormons  in  Missouri  and  Illi- 
nois were,  as  a  class,  a  more 
moral,  honest,  temperate,  hard 
working,  self-denying  and  thrifty 
people  than  the  Gentiles  by  whom 
they  were  surrounded." 


26       THE  BOOK  OF  MORMON  AND  ITS  TRANSLATOR. 


In  1885  the  writer  of  this, 
while  urging  Latter  Day  Saint 
claims  at  Viola,  Iowa,  with  oth- 
ers, had  vehement  opposition 
from  Rev.  Nathaniel  Pye  of  the 
Methodists,  who,  with  Beadle  as 
a  basis,  argued  that  the  early 
church  were  a  set  of  criminals  of 
the  deepest  dye.  Since  it  was 
but  forty  one  years  from  1844  to 
1885,  it  was  not  too  long  for  many 
yet  to  be  found  in  the  penitentia- 
ry who  were  in  for  life  sentence. 
A  man  of  age,  twenty-one,  in  l*-44, 
in  1885  would  be  but  sixty -two. 

Out  of  the  thousands  resident 
at  Nauvoo  a  large  number  went 
into  Iowa;  from  these,  if  crimi- 
nals, a  good  crop  for  the  peniten- 
tiary should  have  been  harvest- 
ed by  the  sickle  of  law.  More- 
over the  Reorganized  Church  of 
Latter  Day  Saints  had  been  rep- 
resented in  the  state  for  about 
thirty  years  by  quite  a  member- 
ship. If  Latter  Day  Saintism  is 
a  factory  producing  criminals, 
then  here  was  a  field  twice  sown 
in  plentiful  abundance,  covering 
f-o-r-t-y-o  n  e-y-e-a  r-s.  It  would 
be  the  legal  privilege,  as  well  as 
heaven- born  duty,  for  the  good 
people  of  Iowa  to  land  every 
criminal  among  them  in  that 
"secure  abode" — the  peniten- 
tiary. So  just  to  see  how  Latter 
Day  Saintism  could  stand  that 
kind  of  a  test,  I  repaired  to  the 
Animosa  penitentiary.  Not  a 
Latter  Day  Saint  was  to  be  found, 
causing  my  joy  to  be  larger  than 
my  surprise. 


The  Animosa  Journal  of  August 
27,  1885,  gave  extracts  from  the 
Warden's  Biennial  Report,  in 
which  occurs  under  the  title, 

RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION. 

Congregational 8 

Christian 11 

Reform. 5 

Campbellite 2 

United  Brethren 6 

Adventist 2 

EvangeUst 4 

Episcopal 9 

Protestant 3 

Presbyterian 25 

Lutheran 16 

Jewish 1 

Quaker 1 

Baptist 24 

Methodist 72 

Catholics 68 

Infidel 2 

None 22 

Total 281 

Even  in  the  days  of  the  Savior, 
criminals  got  into  the  gospel  net; 
so,  likewise,  the  true  church  of 
Latter  Day  Saints  has  not  been 
entirely  free  from  them.  But  a 
just  comparison  with  others  is 
always  favorable  to  it,  as  it  should 
be,  bearing  as  it  does  the  pure 
message  of  life,  and  that  only,  to 
men. 

In  this  treatise,  though  brief, 
it  may  not  be  too  much  for  the 
writer  to  say  that,  in  relation  to 
the  Book  of  Mormon  and  its 
translator,  a  sufficient  array  of 
evidences  in  a  comprehensive 
form  has  been  presented  to  en- 
courage a  more  complete  investi- 
gation of  the  entire  problem  in- 
volved in  the  mission  of  the  book 
and  that  of  its  translator;  a  duty 


THE  BOOK  OF  MORMON  AND  ITS  TRANSLATOR. 


27 


which  intelligence  owes  to  every 
claim  and  effort  the  aim  of  which 
is  "mankind  to  bless;"  and  the 
more  the  claim  is  supported  hy 
evidence^  the  more  the  investiga- 
tion is  made  imperative.  That 
the  reading  of  this  work  may 
lead  to  such  investigation  and  it 


result  in  the  searcher  finding  the 
''pearl  of  great  price,"  the  pure 
gospel  of  the  Son  of  God,  and 
church  of  his  own  building  and 
establishment,  has  been  the  pur- 
pose had  in  view  by  the  writer, 
that  men  may  be  benefited  and 
God  thereby  glorified. 


ADVERTISEMENT. 

The  attention  of  the  reader  of  this  work  is  called  to  a  larger  work 
entitled  '  'Palmyra  to  Independence, ' '  by  the  same  writer.  It  contains 
four  hundred  and  fifty  pages  and  treats  more  exhaustively  the  same 
subjects,  as  also  others.  Cloth  binding,  W^  per  copy.  We  also 
keep  on  hand  and  for  sale  the  Book  of  Mormon,  the  History  of  the 
Church,  and  all  works  treating  on  Latter  I>Aj  Saintism. 

The  Standard  Publishing  Hpui>t; 
65  Ne[son.st.  Rozclle,  N.S.W. 


/ 


